AN ACT to amend 1954 PA 116, entitled “An act to reorganize, consolidate, and add to the election laws; to provide for election officials and prescribe their powers and duties; to prescribe the powers and duties of certain state departments, state agencies, and state and local officials and employees; to provide for the nomination and election of candidates for public office; to provide for the resignation, removal, and recall of certain public officers; to provide for the filling of vacancies in public office; to provide for and regulate primaries and elections; to provide for the purity of elections; to guard against the abuse of the elective franchise; to define violations of this act; to provide appropriations; to prescribe penalties and provide remedies; and to repeal certain acts and all other acts inconsistent with this act,” by amending sections 613a, 614a, 615a, and 759a (MCL 168.613a, 168.614a, 168.615a, and 168.759a), section 613a as amended by 2003 PA 13, sections 614a and 615a as amended by 1999 PA 72, and section 759a as amended by 2010 PA 50, and by adding sections 615c and 759c; and to repeal acts and parts of acts.

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 613a. (1) A statewide presidential primary election shall be conducted under this act on the fourth Tuesday in February in each presidential election year.

(2) A political party that received 5% or less of the total vote cast nationwide for the office of president in the last presidential election shall not participate in the presidential primary election.

(3) Except as otherwise provided in sections 614a to 616a, 624g, 759a, 759c, and 879a, the statewide presidential primary election shall be conducted under the provisions of this act that govern the conduct of general primary elections.

Sec. 614a. (1) Not later than 4 p.m. of the second Friday in November of the year before the presidential election, the secretary of state shall issue a list of the individuals generally advocated by the national news media to be potential presidential candidates for each party’s nomination by the political parties for which a presidential primary election will be held under section 613a. The secretary of state shall make the list issued under this subsection available to the public on an internet website maintained by the department of state.

(2) Not later than 4 p.m. of the Tuesday following the second Friday in November of the year before the presidential election, the state chairperson of each political party for which a presidential primary election will be held under section 613a shall file with the secretary of state a list of individuals whom they consider to be potential presidential candidates for that political party. The secretary of state shall make the lists received under this subsection available to the public on an internet website maintained by the department of state.

(3) After the issuance of the list under subsection (1) and after receipt of names from the state chairperson of each political party under subsection (2), the secretary of state shall notify each potential presidential candidate on the lists of the provisions of this act relating to the presidential primary election.

Sec. 615a. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the secretary of state shall cause the name of a presidential candidate notified by the secretary of state under section 614a to be printed on the appropriate presidential primary ballot for that political party. A presidential candidate notified by the secretary of state under section 614a may file an affidavit with the secretary of state indicating his or her party preference if different than the party preference contained in the secretary of state notification and the secretary of state shall cause that presidential candidate’s name to be printed on the appropriate presidential primary ballot for that political party. If the affidavit of a presidential candidate indicates that the candidate has no political party preference or indicates a political party preference for a political party other than a political party for which a presidential primary election will be held under section 613a, the secretary of state shall not cause that presidential candidate’s name to be printed on a ballot for the presidential primary election. A presidential candidate notified by the secretary of state under section 614a may file an affidavit with the secretary of state specifically stating that “(candidate’s name) is not a presidential candidate”, and the secretary of state shall not have that presidential candidate’s name printed on a presidential primary ballot. A presidential candidate shall file an affidavit described in this subsection with the secretary of state no later than 4 p.m. on the second Friday in December of the year before the presidential election year or the affidavit is considered void.

(2) The name of an individual who is not listed as a potential presidential candidate under section 614a shall be printed on the ballot for the appropriate political party for the presidential primary election if he or she files a nominating petition with the secretary of state no later than 4 p.m. on the second Friday in December of the year before the presidential election year. The nominating petition shall contain valid signatures of registered and qualified electors equal to not less than 1/2 of 1% of the total votes cast in the state at the previous presidential election for the presidential candidate of the political party for which the individual is seeking this nomination. However, the total number of signatures required on a nominating petition under this subsection shall not exceed 1,000 times the total number of congressional districts in this state. A signature on a nominating petition is not valid if obtained before October 1 of the year before the presidential election year in which the individual seeks nomination. To be valid, a nominating petition must conform to the requirements of this act regarding nominating petitions, but only to the extent that those requirements do not conflict with the requirements of this subsection.

(3) The names of the presidential candidates on each political party ballot shall be rotated on the ballot by precinct. Each ballot shall contain a space for an elector to vote uncommitted.

Sec. 615c. (1) In order to vote at a presidential primary election, an elector shall indicate in writing, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state, which political party ballot he or she wishes to vote when appearing at a presidential primary election.

(2) The secretary of state shall develop a procedure for city and township clerks to use when keeping a separate record at a presidential primary election that contains the printed name, address, and qualified voter file number of each elector and the political party ballot selected by that elector at the presidential primary election.

(3) The information acquired or in the possession of a public body indicating which political party ballot an elector selected at a presidential primary election is not exempt from disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.

(4) Within 71 days after the presidential primary election, the secretary of state shall make available to the public in an electronic format a file of the records for each political party described under subsection (2). The secretary of state shall set a schedule for county, city, and township clerks to submit data or documents required under subsection (2). The secretary of state and county, city, and township clerks shall destroy the information indicating which political party ballot each elector selected at the presidential primary election as recorded in subsection (2) immediately after the expiration of the 22-month federal election records retention period.

Sec. 759a. (1) An absent uniformed services voter or an overseas voter who is not registered, but possessed the qualifications of an elector under section 492, may apply for registration by using the federal postcard application. The department of state, bureau of elections, is responsible for disseminating information on the procedures for registering and voting to an absent uniformed services voter and an overseas voter.

(2) Upon the request of an absent uniformed services voter or an overseas voter, the clerk of a county, city, township, or village shall electronically transmit a blank voter registration application or blank absent voter ballot application to the voter. The clerk of a county, city, township, or village shall accept a completed voter registration application or completed absent voter ballot application electronically transmitted by an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter. A voter registration application or absent voter ballot application submitted by an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter shall contain the signature of the voter.

(3) A spouse or dependent of an overseas voter who is a citizen of the United States, is accompanying that overseas voter, and is not a qualified and registered elector anywhere else in the United States, may apply for an absent voter ballot even though the spouse or dependent is not a qualified elector of a city or township of this state.

(4) An absent uniformed services voter or an overseas voter, whether or not registered to vote, may apply for an absent voter ballot. Upon receipt of an application for an absent voter ballot under this section that complies with this act, a county, city, village, or township clerk shall forward to the applicant the absent voter ballots requested, the forms necessary for registration, and instructions for completing the forms. If the ballots are not yet available at the time of receipt of the application, the clerk shall immediately forward to the applicant the registration forms and instructions, and forward the ballots as soon as they are available. If a federal postcard application is filed, the clerk shall accept the federal postcard application as the registration application and shall not send any additional registration forms to the applicant. If the ballots and registration forms are received before the close of the polls on election day and if the registration complies with the requirements of this act, the absent voter ballots shall be delivered to the proper election board to be tabulated. If the registration does not comply with the requirements of this act, the clerk shall retain the absent voter ballots until the expiration of the time that the voted ballots must be kept and shall then destroy the ballots without opening the envelope. The clerk may retain registration forms completed under this section in a separate file. The address in this state shown on a registration form is the residence of the registrant.

(5) Not later than 45 days before an election, a county, city, township, or village clerk shall electronically transmit or mail as appropriate an absent voter ballot to each absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter who applied for an absent voter ballot 45 days or more before the election.

(6) Upon the request of an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter, the clerk of a county, city, township, or village shall electronically transmit an absent voter ballot to the voter. The voter shall print the absent voter ballot and return the voted ballot by mail to the appropriate clerk.

(7) The secretary of state shall prescribe electronic absent voter ballot formats and electronic absent voter ballot transmission methods. Each county, city, township, or village clerk shall employ the prescribed electronic ballot formats to fulfill an absent voter ballot request received from an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter who wishes to receive his or her absent voter ballot through an electronic transmission. The secretary of state shall establish procedures to implement the requirements in this section and for the processing of a marked absent voter ballot returned by an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter who obtained his or her absent voter ballot through an electronic transmission.

(8) The secretary of state shall modify the printed statement provided under section 761(4) and the absent voter ballot instructions provided under section 764a as appropriate to accommodate the procedures developed for electronically transmitting an absent voter ballot to an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter. A statement shall be included in the certificate signed by the absent voter who obtained his or her absent voter ballot through an electronic transmission that the secrecy of the absent voter ballot may be compromised during the duplication process. The absent voter ballot instructions provided to an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter shall include the proper procedures for returning the absent voter ballot to the appropriate clerk.

(9) The size of a precinct shall not be determined by registration forms completed under this section.

(10) An absent uniformed services voter or an overseas voter who submits an absent voter ballot application is eligible to vote as an absent voter in any local or state election occurring in the calendar year in which the absent voter ballot application is received by the county, city, village, or township clerk, but not in an election for which the application is received by the clerk after 2 p.m. of the Saturday before the election. A county, city, or township clerk receiving an absent voter ballot application from an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter shall transmit to a village clerk and the school district election coordinators, where applicable, the necessary information to enable the village clerk and school district election coordinators to forward an absent voter ballot for each applicable election in that calendar year to the absent voter. A village clerk receiving an absent voter ballot application from an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter shall transmit to the township clerk and the school district election coordinators, where applicable, the necessary information to enable the city or township clerk and school district election coordinators to forward an absent voter ballot for each applicable election in that calendar year to the absent voter. If the local elections official rejects a voter registration application or absent voter ballot application submitted by an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter, the election official shall notify the voter of the rejection.

(11) An electronic mail address provided by an absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter for the purposes of this section is confidential and exempt from disclosure under the freedom of information act, 1976 PA 442, MCL 15.231 to 15.246.

(12) Under the uniformed and overseas citizens absentee voting act, 42 USC 1973ff to 1973ff-7, the state director of elections shall approve a ballot form and registration procedures for absent uniformed services voters and overseas voters.

(13) For a presidential primary election, the secretary of state shall prescribe procedures for contacting an elector who is an absent uniformed services voter or an overseas voter, as described in this section, and who is eligible to receive an absent voter ballot or who applies for an absent voter ballot for the presidential primary election, offering the elector the opportunity to select a political party ballot for the presidential primary election.

(14) As used in this section:

(a) “Absent uniformed services voter” means any of the following:

(i) A member of a uniformed service on active duty who, by reason of being on active duty, is absent from the place of residence where the member is otherwise qualified to vote.

(ii) A member of the merchant marine who, by reason of service in the merchant marine, is absent from the place of residence where the member is otherwise qualified to vote.

(iii) A spouse or dependent of a member referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii) who, by reason of the active duty or service of the member, is absent from the place of residence where the spouse or dependent is otherwise qualified to vote.

(b) “Member of the merchant marine” means an individual, other than a member of a uniformed service or an individual employed, enrolled, or maintained on the Great Lakes or the inland waterways, who is either of the following:

(i) Employed as an officer or crew member of a vessel documented under the laws of the United States, a vessel owned by the United States, or a vessel of foreign-flag registry under charter to or control of the United States.

(ii) Enrolled with the United States for employment or training for employment, or maintained by the United States for emergency relief service, as an officer or crew member of a vessel documented under the laws of the United States, a vessel owned by the United States, or a vessel of foreign-flag registry under charter to or control of the United States.

(c) “Overseas voter” means any of the following:

(i) An absent uniformed services voter who, by reason of active duty or service, is absent from the United States on the date of an election.

(ii) A person who resides outside of the United States and is qualified to vote in the last place in which the person was domiciled before leaving the United States.

(iii) A person who resides outside of the United States and who, but for such residence outside of the United States, would be qualified to vote in the last place in which he or she was domiciled before leaving the United States.

(d) “Uniformed services” means the army, navy, air force, marine corps, coast guard, the commissioned corps of the public health service, the commissioned corps of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, a reserve component of a uniformed service, or the Michigan national guard as defined in section 105 of the Michigan military act, 1967 PA 150, MCL 32.505.

(15) This section applies to the August 3, 2010 election and to each succeeding election conducted in this state.

Sec. 759c. For a presidential primary election, the secretary of state shall revise the absent voter ballot application form described in section 759 or provide a separate form to require that a presidential primary elector indicate a political party ballot selection when requesting an absent voter ballot.

Enacting section 1. If any portion of this amendatory act or the application of this amendatory act to any person or circumstances is found invalid by a court, it is the intent of the legislature that the provisions of this amendatory act are severable and that the remainder of the amendatory act shall be valid, operable, and in effect.